This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com

The head of communications for the Algerian police says officers who beat up two students at a recent demonstration could face criminal proceedings.

Djilali Boudalia said Wednesday there were “no instructions to use force” against students protesting Sunday in front of the Ministry of Higher Education in the capital, Algiers.

He said an investigation was under way, and that the officers behind the beatings will be handed “severe sanctions.”

Tensions were high in this North African country since last month's ouster of the autocratic president in neighbouring Tunisia, and subsequent uprisings in Egypt and Libya — which shares a border with Algeria.

Thousands of anti-government protesters marched to Manama's Pearl Square on Wednesday after Bahrain's king released at least 100 political prisoners, an acknowledgment by the Sunni ruler of the mounting pressure being placed on him by the Shiite opposition.

Bahrain's authorities said in an email that 308 prisoners were released from custody on Wednesday. However, the president of Bahrain's Center for Human Rights, Nabeel Rajab, said only about 100 of those people were political prisoners, while at least 300 remain in detention.

Rajab speculated that the other inmates who were let go may have been criminals who were being held on non-political charges.

Bahrain's king is visiting ally Saudi Arabia for talks on the unrest.

State media reports on Wednesday say King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa is holding talks with the Saudi monarch.

Like the tiny Bahrain, OPEC heavyweight Saudi Arabia also has a significant Shiite population that has long complained of oppression by the Sunni rulers.

There are concerns that Bahrain's uprising, now in its second week, could spread to the Saudi kingdom, whose absolute rulers permit few political freedoms.

Egypt

A security official says hundreds of low-ranking police have set fire to parts of the security headquarters in Cairo after four days of protests to demand better salaries.

The official says the protesters hurled firebombs at the building, setting parts of it ablaze. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

The official says soldiers tried to disperse the crowd by firing in the air, but failed.

Egypt is now ruled by military commanders after massive protests ousted longtime President Hosni Mubarak.

Egypt's police fired on protesters early in the uprising, cementing the loathing many Egyptians feel for the security forces over widespread bribe-taking, abuse and torture.

Egyptian authorities on Wednesday banned a former prime minister and a Cabinet minister from leaving the country, a move that often preludes a criminal investigation and a possible trial, state TV said.

Prosecutors imposed the travel ban on Atef Obeid, who served as premier from 1999 to 2004, as well as long-serving Culture Minister Farouq Hosni. The restrictions also cover the head of state TV and radio, Osama el-Sheiky, as well as nine businessmen deemed to have cushy ties with the regime of ousted President Hosni Mubarak.

Jordan

Jordan's Cabinet has approved laws making it easier to organize protests and will revive a government body that works to ensure basic commodities remain affordable to the poor.

A government official says the reforms were passed late Tuesday. They came hours after the country's largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, vowed to resume demonstrations pushing for reforms.

The situation has been less volatile in Jordan than elsewhere but people here still have been protesting to curb the king's powers.

Speaking on condition of anonymity because talking to the media was prohibited, the government official said organizers will need only to inform authorities 48 hours in advance of protests so public protection is assured.

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia on Wednesday nearly doubled a development fund that helps citizens buy homes, get married and start businesses, and it set up unemployment assistance for the first time as the oil-rich nation warily watches the unrest spreading around the Middle East.

The steps, reported by state television, were apparently aimed at shoring up popular support and fending off unrest that has spread to neighbouring Bahrain. They came as new signs of the undercurrent of discontent in the kingdom appeared to be bubbling to the surface.

A Facebook page calling for a “March 11 Revolution of Longing” in Saudi Arabia has begun attracting hundreds of viewers. A message posted on the page calls for “the ousting of the regime” and lists demands including allowing for the election of a ruler and members of the advisory assembly known as the Shura Council.

Saudi Arabia — where King Abdullah and thousands of royals are largely untouchable — has been mostly spared the unrest that is rippling through the Arab world. But Bahrain became the first nation in the oil-rich Gulf to experience the region's anti-government upheavals that are linked to poverty as well as demands for more political freedom.

Showing how deep the concern is, Abdullah ordered that 40 billion riyals ($10.7 billion) be pumped into the country's development fund, which provides interest-free loans to Saudis who want to build homes, get married or start small businesses.

Saudi officials are “pumping in huge amounts of money into areas where it will have an obvious trickle-down by addressing issues like housing shortages,” said John Sfakianakis, chief economist for the Riyadh, Saudi Arabia-based Banque Saudi Fransi.

Yemen

Seven members of parliament have resigned from Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh's ruling party to protest against what they described as government violence against demonstrators, parliamentarians said on Wednesday.

The resignations, including some major allies of Saleh, are a political blow to a president facing popular opposition to end his 32-year rule, although he still retains the support of around 80 per cent of parliament.

“The people must have the right to demonstrate peacefully,” Abdulaziz Jubari, a leading parliamentarian who has resigned, told Reuters.

Jubari said the parliamentarians had sent a 10-point letter to Saleh with demands for immediate reform, including restructuring the army to make it more representative of Yemen's complex society and to aid a transition to democracy.

Among those who resigned is tribal leader Abdo Bisher from the Sanaa region and two figures from southern Yemen.

Saleh's General Ruling Congress Party still has around 240 members out of the 301-strong parliament, which the opposition says was a result of unfair elections and the use of state machinery to elect Saleh's allies.

Saleh said he will not succumb to what he described as opponents advocating anarchy. Fifteen people have died in the unrest since last week.

A Yemeni man around 20 years old died in hospital from gunshot wounds suffered in clashes on Friday between security forces and protesters in Aden's Mansoura district, a medical source told Reuters on Wednesday.

His death brings to 14 the number of people reported killed in clashes around Aden since Thursday. One other man was killed in the city of Taiz last week.

Gunmen in the southern province of Lahej kidnapped three soldiers, one with the rank of captain, after storming a military base, a local source said. Three soldiers and two of the gunmen were wounded in the clash.

The Toronto Star and thestar.com, each property of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, One Yonge Street, 4th Floor, Toronto, ON, M5E 1E6. You can unsubscribe at any time. Please contact us or see our privacy policy for more information.

More from the Toronto Star & Partners

LOADING

Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or distribution of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com